Marie Corcoran smiled alongside her dog on Wednesday afternoon inside Gifted, which opened two years ago in a different locale in the South End before an increase in business forced a move to a bigger location.    (Source:Emily Cataneo)

Neighborhood mentality helping keep local businesses above water

South End businesses optimistic amid cloudy economic recovery
by Emily Cataneo
MySouthEnd.com Contributor
Wednesday Jun 16, 2010

Gifted, a gift shop at 2 Dartmouth Street that sells pottery, jewelry, cards, and pet paraphernalia, is on the up and up. The store’s revenue is up 33 percent since last year; it was able to move from 53 Dartmouth St. to more prime real estate at 2 Dartmouth St.; and a part-time employee was recently upped to full-time.

"Definitely, for us, things are getting better," said owner Marie Corcoran.

Corcoran isn’t the only one who is optimistic about small businesses in the South End. Many other South End business owners are looking forward to the upcoming summer, and statistics show that new businesses are opening at a faster rate than old ones are closing. Nick Fedor, executive director of Washington Gateway Main Street, said that in 2009 and the first quarter of 2010, six new businesses opened in the Washington Street area, creating 20 local jobs. In the same period, only three businesses closed.

"Certainly, the economic downturn has resulted in falling sales and revenues in our district, but we’re fortunate that we have businesses in our district that are well run and are sensitive to consumer needs, and are smartly run businesses that have been able to navigate through these difficult economic times," Fedor said.

He also said that all reports indicate that the first few weeks of the SoWa Open Market this year have been bustling and busy.

Justin Burdon and Dan Fitzgerald, co-owners of the South End Athletic Company at 652 Tremont Street, which has been open for seven months, are hopeful about their future. Burdon said that he is "absolutely" optimistic about the coming summer months.

"We’ve never had a summer, so we don’t really know what to expect from summer traffic in the South End. We don’t know if people are going to clear out," said Fitzgerald. "On weekdays, it should continue to be strong, because people will continue to be in the neighborhood, and it’s a good time to be outside, with all the patio bars. Restaurants are open, so that type of thing helps drive business here."

Statewide, although the economy is picking up slightly, statistics aren’t quite as positive as the South End business owners. Seasonally adjusted unemployment is down from 9.3 percent in March to 9.2 percent in April, with an increase of 19,100 jobs over the month. However, unemployment is still up 1.6 percent from 7.5 percent in April 2009. And due to the increased number of individuals entering the job market, unemployment rates in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy area actually rose from March to April.

With a continued high unemployment rate, why are South End business owners faring reasonably well? Corcoran said that the attitude of South Enders is integral to the continued economic success of the businesses in the area.

"It’s definitely because of the devotion of the people in the area," said Corcoran. "People go out of their way to come down here and make sure they’re buying a gift from us instead of from Target."

Fedor, who moved to the South End from Philadelphia three months ago, agreed. He said that compared to his old neighborhood, the South End has a strong sense of community loyalty.

"The people who live and work here are very involved, and have a strong sense of civic pride and commitment to seeing things go well and prosper," said Fedor. "People live here, they eat in the restaurants here, they shop in the retail stores here. It’s really a great neighborhood to be a part of."

Some business owners even said that the recession opened up new opportunities for them. As the failing economy prompted businesses to close their doors, landlords were forced to rent out prime real estate at lower prices than they would have during a good economy.

"In our mind, that was a real positive about the recession, for us, especially as a new business owner," said Burdon. "Obviously you never want to see businesses closing up, but it kind of opened up more opportunities for us."

Corcoran said that as an established business owner, she has observed the same phenomenon. Although it has been scary to see businesses closing around her, it has been heartening to see new owners have opportunities.

"They’re getting a better offer for what they would have originally," Corcoran said. "I think we’re just kind of transitioning into new stores."

Ultimately, Fitzgerald and Burdon said that they believe that starting up a new business during the recession will make their business stronger in the end.

"[The recession] hurts people who expanded prematurely, before the business was actually ready to expand. The satellite location wasn’t making money, and that gets highlighted when money’s not pouring in in every direction," said Fitzgerald. "Whereas I think, for us, the recession feels like an opportunity. We can build a solid foundation, rather than doing well when everyone’s spending cash. If you can survive this, you can survive anything. It’s a good starting point."